Furniture glue press attachment



Sept. 5, 1961 E. DOIRON 3 FURNITURE GLUE PRESS ATTACHMENT Filed May 1,1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Emile Doiron INVENTOR.

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Sept. 5, 1961 E. DOIRON FURNITURE GLUE PRESS ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May ll 1959 Emile Do/ron IN VEN TOR. Mm BY m. 15m

2,998,831 FURNITURE GLUE PRESS ATTACHMENT Emile Doiron, 40 Franklin St.,Athol, Mass. Filed May 1, 1959, Ser. No. 810,310 3 Claims. (Cl. 144-289)This invention relates to a new and useful actuating assembly for afurniture glue press or clamp machine of the type disclosed in thepatent to Gardner No. 1,782,846, dated November 25, 1930, and moreparticularly relates to an attachment consisting of an actuatingassembly for advancing the conveyor assembly of this apparatus, whichassembly is of the intermittent advancing type having a rotating shaftwith a ratchet wheel mounted thereon.

The main object of this invention is to provide anactuating assemblyspecifically adapted as an attachment for a furniture glue press orclamp machine of the type disclosed in Patent No. 1,782,846 and thatwill move inone direction to intermittently advance a conveyor andquickly return to its starting position in readiness for the nextforward advance of the conveyor assembly.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the precedingobject, is to provide an actuating assembly that will advance to urgeforward movement of a conveyor assembly and quickly return to a positionin readiness to eflect the next movement of the conveyor assembly.

A still further object, in accordance with the preceding objects, is toprovide an actuating assembly that will be readily adaptable for usewith ratchet Wheels of varying diameter.

Still another object, in accordance with the preceding objects, is toprovide an actuating assembly that will have a diminishing force appliedthereto to return it to its starting position whereby as the limit ofthe return be greatly reduced.

A final object to be specifically enumeratedv herein is to provide anactuating assembly that will be of simple construction, readilyadaptable to numerous sized machines, readily replaceable, and lenditself to conventional forms of manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference.being had to the. accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE '1 is a side elevational view of the invention shown mounted upona conventional form of furniture glue press clamp machine, parts of theclamp machine being broken away;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged end elevational view of the invention as seenfrom the left side of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the attachment constituting theinvention.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 11)generally designates a conventional form of glue press clamp machinesuch as that disclosed in the patent to Gardner No. 1,782,846 datedNovember 25, 1930, comprising a conveyor assembly generally designatedby the reference numeral 12 having a plurality of clamping elements 14thereon.

The glue press clamp machine includes a means for intermittentlyadvancing the conveyor assembly 12 having the clamping elements 14thereon to and from a work position so that a workman standing at thework position may either place into or remove from the clampgluedtogether.

The conveyor assembly 12 includes a horizontally disposed rotating shaft16 that has a ratchet wheel,18ysecured thereto. a reciprocating powermeans having a control therefor that, may be conveniently operated by aworkman to actuate the rotation ofthe shaft 16 so as to effect, themovement of the conveyor assembly 12.

The reciprocating, power means 20 comprises an extensible motor 22having a cylinder 24 with a piston (not shown) slidingly disposedtherein which is con.- nected to a piston shaft 25.

The extensible motor 22 is operated by fluid pressure entering throughinlet line 26 that is controlled by inlet valve 28. The inlet line 26 isconnected to a T-fitting,

30 that is in communication with the interior of the cylinder. 24 abovethe piston (not shown) slidingly disposed therein. The fluid pressureentering the cylinder 24v will cause the downward movement of the pistonand the piston rod 25. Also connected to the T-fitting 30 is an outletline 32 which is controlled by anoutlet valve 34 which may be. opened toallow, the fluid pressure contained within the cylinder 24. to beexhausted therefrom.

An actuating lever 36 is pivotally secured to the clamp machine 10 andis. connectedby a pivotal link 38 to an operating pedal 40.

The structure as above set forth is substantially that disclosed by theaforementioned patent, and it is to be understood that theaforementioned structure does not comprise any part of the inventionclaimed herein.

In the aforementioned patent to Gardner, there is pivotally secured tothe rotatable shaft 16 an actuating beam, not shown, which has on oneend a pawl engageable with the ratchet wheel and on the other end aweight. The beam is disposed in a substantially horizontal position andthere is provided between the piston shaft 25 and the end ofthe beamhaving the pawl thereon a connecting link. to reciprocate the actuatingbeam aboutv its axis. As the piston shaft 25- is moved downward by fluidpressure. in the extensiblemotor 22,. thepawl on the actuating beamengages the periphery of the ratchet wheel 18 to effect the rotation ofthe rotatable shaft 16 and thus the movement of the conveyor assembly12.. [After the piston shaft 25- has reached its downward limit, theoutlet valve 34 is opened and the weight on the opposite end of theactuating beam returns the latter to its original position in readinessfor the next downward stroke of the piston shaft 25.

The present. invention comprises an actuator assembly generally referredto by the reference numeral 42. which constitutes a replacement orconversion unit for the aforementioned pivotally mounted actuating beam.

The actuator assembly 42 comprises a brace element 44 that is in theform of an elongated strap having a first laterally projecting flange 46on one end and a second laterally projecting flange 48'on the other endwhich extends in the opposite direction of the first laterallyprojecting flange 46. The second laterally projecting flange 48 isadapted to be secured to the clamp machine 10 by any convenient meanssuch as fastener 56 with the first laterally projecting flange 46disposed above and in alignment with the ratchet wheel 18. Dependingfrom and secured to the first laterally projecting flange 46 is anexpansion spring 52, the lower end thereof being secured to an actuatingmeans 54 in the form of an inverted U-shaped element having a pair ofdepending legs 56. Each of the depending legs 56 is suitably aperturedas at 58, the apertures being aligned and rotatably receivingtherethrou-gh an actuator pin 60. The actuating means or invertedU-shaped element Patented Sept. 5, 1961 Disposed adjacent the workposition is.

3 54 is connected to the piston shaft 25 by means of a connectingassembly generally referred to by the reference numeral 62. Theconnecting assembly 62 QUIT? to the upper portion of the piston shaft 25at the other end.

It will be readily apparent with reference to FIGURE 2, that the strapconnectors 64 are adapted to embrace a portion of the ratchet wheel 18,and that in operation, as the operating pedal 40 is depressed, theoperating lever 36 will open the inlet valve 28 emitting fluid pressureinto the cylinder 24 above the piston (not shown) to urge the latter andthe piston shaft 25 in a downward direction. The connecting assembly 62,upon the downward movement of the piston shaft 25, will draw theactuating means 54 downward against the force of the expansion spring 52and cause the actuator pin 60 to engage the periphery of the ratchetwheel 18. Further downward movement of the piston shaft 25 then effectscounter-clockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel 18 and the movement ofthe conveyor assembly 12. Upon the release of the operating pedal 40,the spring 66 will effect the pivotal movement of the operating lever 36to open the outlet valve 34 releasing the pressure within the cylinder24 whereupon the expansion spring 52 will return the actuating means 54to its starting position in readiness to etfect the next downwardmovement of the piston shaft 25.

Although the actuating assembly 42 has been shown in a substantiallyvertical position, it is to be understood that other positions could beassumed as long as there was provided a guiding means for the guidingmovement of the actuating means 54 into engagement with the ratchetwheel 18 and back to the starting position therefrom.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired tolimit theinvention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordinglyall suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, fallingwithin the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a furniture glue press of the type having an intermittentlyadvancing conveyor with a rotating shaft drivingly connected thereto, aratchet wheel mounted on said shaft, and a reciprocating power meansdisposed on one side of and for movement in alignment with, towards andaway from said ratchet wheel, an actuator assembly for said conveyorcomprising a brace element,

said brace element being secured to a stationary support on said gluepress adjacent said ratchet wheel and on the side remote from said powermeans and having at least a portion thereof in alignment with theratchet wheel, a spring having one, end secured to said portion of saidbrace element, actuating means secured to the other end of said spring,connecting means operatively connecting said power means to actuatingmeans to reciprocate the latter, an actuator carried by said actuatingmeans and releasably engaging said ratchet wheel,

said actuating means comprising a generally inverted U-shaped elementhaving a pair of depending legs straddling said ratchet wheel, saidactuator comprising a pin secured between the lower ends of said legsand engageable with said ratchet wheel.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said connecting means comprises apair of elongated spaced links straddling said ratchet wheel and havingtheir opposite ends pivotally secured to said reciprocating power meansand said pin.

3. In a furniture glue press of the type having an intermittentlyadvancing conveyor with a rotating shaft drivingly connected thereto, aratchet wheel mounted on said shaft, and a reciprocating power meansdisposed on one side of and for movement in alignment with, towards andaway from said ratchet wheel, an actuator assembly for said ratchetwheel comprising a brace element, said brace element being secured to astationary support adjacent said ratchet wheel and on the side thereofremote from said power means, at least a portion of said brace elementin alignment with the ratchet wheel, a spring having one end secured tosaid portion of said brace element, elongated actuating means having oneend secured to the other end of said spring and the other endoperatively connected to said reciprocating power means by a pair ofgenerally parallel and spaced rigid connecting members, said connectingmembers disposed on opposite sides of said ratchet wheel and extendingalong a chord of the latter and beyond the peripheral edges of saidratchet wheel receiving a portion of the latter therebetween, anactuating pin secured between said connecting members adjacent saidspring for engagement with the periphery of said ratchet wheel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,001,547 McMillen Aug. 22, 1911 1,326,186 Clas Dec. 30, 1919 1,420,941Palmer June 27, 1922 1,782,846 Gardner Nov. 25, 1930 2,387,847 HofimanOct. 30, 1945 2,618,982 Mead Nov. 25, 1952

